1.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

• Describe the migration and/or invasion of successive groups into Britain;

• Analyze the ways that Anglo-Saxon literature assimilated Christian themes;

• Compare how various groups and individuals used the story of King Arthur for political, religious, and revisionist reasons;

• Describe the languages used in Britain over time, leading to Chaucer’s use of English when composing his works;

• Analyze the similarities and differences between the Anglo-Saxon warrior code and the knightly (or chivalric) code in Middle English literature, especially in Malory;

• Analyze the similarities and differences among the portrayals of women in Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and Middle English works;

• Analyze the ways that writers use the concept of courtly love, from Marie de France to Malory.